Just Wondering: When Does Your Period Come Back After Having a Baby?
You know it when you feel it, but it doesnt have a real beginning or end.
You just know you want it to stop.
Ive lived and learned the consequences of brushing off that feeling.
My biggest uh oh to date came at 35 years old.
The smoothest brown skin, a swirl of jet-black waves, and the pinkest little lips.
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From the moment I found out I was pregnant, I called him our grand finale.
He was our third boy, youngest by six years, and I knew he was our last.
I wanted to soak up every ounce of that delicious new-baby cuteness.
Despite what I subconsciously knew were glaring red flags, I began to make up excuses.
As the day progressed, the headache became so bad my vision started to blur.
I finally called my doctor, who urged me to go straight back to labor and delivery.
…
My blood pressure had skyrocketed to 186/121 (for context, a healthy blood pressure is below 120/80).
I was in hypertensive crisis, and my life was at risk.
The condition is most often diagnosed during pregnancy and tends to go away once the baby is born.
I was admitted and stayed in the hospital for over a week.
I was otherwise healthy, exercised regularly, and ate well.
I desperately wanted my cure to be within my control.
I wish I could say I handled it with biopic-worthy grace, poise, and strength.
The truth is, I was terrified.
I was attached to a blood pressure monitor 24 hours a day.
Sometimes the reading would only be slightly elevated.
Even worse, the outcome was completely out of my control.
Fighting for my life in a hospital bed was not part of my birthing plan.
I was finally released, but with a new diagnosis: chronic hypertension.
I remember lamenting to my then-cardiologist about the amount of medications.
I was otherwise healthy, exercised regularly, and ate well.
I desperately wanted my cure to be within my control.
He reminded me that it wasnt my faultI wasnt to blame.
Sometimes, he shared candidly, it just happens.
I began to wonder less about how it happened and more about how I survived.
I realized I owed so much of my survival to privilege.
I was privileged to have a care team who believed me.
In short, my privilege saved my life.
The U.S. maternal death rate ismore than 10 timesthe estimated rate of some other high-income countries.
On average, more than700 womenin the United States die of pregnancy-related complications each year.
Upon closer look,4 out of 5pregnancy-related deaths have been found to be preventable.
I realized I owed so much of my survival to privilege.
I was privileged to have a care team who believed me.
After I returned home, I read story after story ofBlack women who werent believed.
She also had a C-section.
Kira died of an internal hemorrhage.
Reading her story filled me with a sense of survivors guilt.
That isnt the case for everyone.
For some people, their preeclampsia resolves with treatment.
But my genes are what likely have set me on a different path.
I have to be mindful of how I eat, how much I move, and how Imanage stress.
I believe our bodies tell on themselves.
If youre fortunate, that is a reminder you only need once.
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